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Mobo with 4 ide channels?

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by chrislow

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I have an ePox4G4A mobo that has 2 standard ide channls (UDMA 100) and 2 HPT372 ide channels (also UDMA 100) that it says are there to support RAID configurations.

I'd like to use the HPT372 channels to add another hard drive and an internal zip drive to the system (I've already maxed out the 2 standard ide channels with 2 hard drives a DVD bruner and a CD drive).

Is this possible and how would I do it? I tried simply plugging the hard drive and zip drive into the HPT372s but it made my computer stall on boot.

2 replies

by timwalsh

After looking at the scanty information available in the user's guide for your MB, I can't make a call here. I would suggest talking to Epox Tech support.

BTW, if you've had this board for a while, there is a new BIOS update available from 11/02. It specifically relates to the HPT372N controller.

by thechas

While the plug in IDE RAID controller cards support removable media drives, the on-board RAID controllers usually do not.

While I have not used an Epox MB with the added controller, I have used motherboards with both the Promise ATA100, and the HPT 300 series RAID controllers.

Here are my setup recommendations:

Move your C: and D: drives to the Primary connector for the HPT controller.

Set the BIOS to boot from the on-board controller.

You may be prompted to install the drivers when you boot into Windows. So either download and extract the HPT driver, or have the floppy that should have been with the motherboard on hand.
(Note: High Point recommends matching the Driver revision with the HPT BIOS revision.)

If you are running Windows XP, you can skip this next step.
Once you get things working, shut down, and temporarily install the new Hard drive as Primary master on the 'standard' IDE controller.
Boot from your Windows startup disk, and run fdisk to partition thedrive.
If your other drives have multiple partitions, it is advised to partition the new drive as an extended DOS partition with NO primary DOS partition.
That way, the logical drives will be assigned drive letters in sequence after your existing drive letters.
(the CD drive letters will still change)

After the drive is partitioned, you can either format the drive, or wait until you have it installed.

Install the new drive as the secondary master on the HPT controller.

Now, you can install the ZIP drive onto the primary 'standard' IDE controller.

I recommend setting it as the slave drive, and leaving the master slot empty.

I have had problems installing a removable media drive as the Primary master on the standard IDE controller.

(This is similar to how my system is set up on an Asus motherboard.)

Chas

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